Curling device and method for using same



United States Patent [72] Inventor Irwin L. Altman San Francisco, California [21] Appl. No. 767,360 [22] Filed Oct. 14, 1968 [45] Patented Dec. 1, 1970 [73] Assignee Jory of San Francisco San Francisco, California a corporation of California. by mesne assignment [54] CURLING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USING SAME 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,139,311 12/1938 Moore 132/362 2,631,593 3/1953 Madore 132/362 3,019,796 2/1962 Reed 132/9 2,991,790 7/1961 Bonilla 132/7 Primary Examiner- Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeil] Attorney-J. Bruce McCubbey ABSTRACT: A device for curling hair is described having a stiff rod attached to a flexible envelope. The hair is captured in the envelope, which opens for this purpose, and the envelope is then wrapped on the rod with the hair inside the envelope.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 Sheet INVENTOR IRWIN L. ALTMAN BY v ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 1, 1970 3,543,771

Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR IRWIN L. ALTMAN ATTORNE Y5 CURLING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USING SAME This invention relates to a device for curling hair and to a method of using the device. More particularly, theinvention relates to an improved hair-curling device and method for using the device which eliminate defects in hair curls, such as frizziness, loose ends, fish hooks, and overhang.

Several processes for beautifying human hair require the hair to be curled, either by means of a so-called cold permanent wave, or by means of a set", both procedures being well known in the art. Heretofore, cold permanent waving has typically involved a two-stepcurling process. A square piece of paper or fabric or plastic, which is either porous or perforated or both, is folded over the hair, which is saturated with a suitable solution, and a cold wave rod-or roller is placed against the end paper and is rolled toward the head.

Known methods of setting hair typically involve the wrapping of hair about a roller,'which hasa sizeand shape designed to effect a desired tightness in the curl of the set hair.

The outer surface of the roller may be smooth or may be brushlike or of other convenient design for grasping the hair to adjust the hair to the roller, causing the hair to process unevenly, with strands of hair that pop out and look unsightly. In the case of the cold wave permanent process above described, the end papers which are used are frequently hard to separate from the rodswhen the devices are removed from the hair, making cleaning of the rods tedious and time consuming.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved device for curling hair.

Another object-of the invention is to provide a method for using such a device-which ensures even tensionand eliminates defects in hair curls.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device fo curling hair which eliminates defects in hair curls, such as frizziness caused by defects in the mechanical part of the process, loose ends, fish hooks and overhang.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device for curling hair which is low in cost and which is sufficiently easy to use as to be practical for nonprofessional as well as professional use.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the curling device of the invention in an open condition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the device of the invention in a closed condition;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the device of the invention in a partially wrapped condition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the device of the invention in a wrapped condition and locked in place;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 5, of another embodiment of the invention.

Very generally, the curling device of the invention comprises an envelope ll of flexible material including two at least partially separable sheet portions 12 and 13 adapted to be positioned in a generally superimposed relationship with hair sandwiched therebetween. An elongated rod 14, which is relatively stiffer than the flexible material, and which is separable into two portions, has each portion secured along one edge of a corresponding one of the sheet portions. The rod, when unseparated, is of a cross-sectional size which permits the envelope to be wrapped about the rod at least once.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated therein in connection with the curling of human hair. The envelope 11 is flexible material includes two separable sheet portions 12 and 13 which are .joined along an edge 16. Preferably, the sheet portions are of a transparent material which has a gripping effect on moist hair. It is also preferable that the flexible material of the envelope 11 have a degree of resilience for reasons which will be explained more fully belowuA satisfactory material which may be utilized as the sheet portions of the envelope is polyethylene plastic.

The elongated rod is formed into two separable portions 17 and 18, the interface'between the two separable portions extending along the length of the rod. Each of the separable portions 17 and 18 is secured along its length to corresponding edges of the sheet portions 12 and 13, respectively. The securing may be by any suitable means. The separable portions of the rod are hinged in the region 19 adjacent the edge 16 of the joined sheet portions 12 and 13. The hinge may be provided by any suitable construction, but for manufacturing simplicity and convenience it is preferred that the hinge be integral with separable portions 17 and 18 of the rod 14, such as is possible when the rod is made of a plastic material, such as polyethylene. The rod is relatively stiffer than the flexible material of the sheet, however, and may be made so merely by making it thicker than the sheet.

When the device is used for curling hair, the separable portions 17 and 18 ofthe rod are spread as in FIG. 1, thus opening the envelope by separating the sheet portions 12 and 13. A group 21 of hair strands is combed out of the remaining hair 22 on the head, as is typically done during known curling operations. The hair, which may be merely moistened with water or a setting solution in the case of setting hair, or which may be saturated with a cold wave solution in the case of cold permanent waving, is placed against one of the sheet portions and the separable portions of the rod are brought together to close the envelope by superimposing the two sheet portions 12 and 13 and sandwiching the hair 21 therebetween. Suitable means are provided for locking the separable portions 17 and 18 together, such as a stud 23 on the portion 18 which snaps into a mating opening 24 on the portion 17.

The condition of the device, after the rod 14 is closed, is as shown in FIG. 2. The envelope 11 is then drawn outwardly along the hair captured therein until the outermost ends of the hair line up along the'inner edge of the rod 14, but are not captured between its separable portions 17 and 18. This eliminates the possibility of fish hooks in the ultimate curl. Moreover, with the hair captured in the envelope as shown, there is generally no difficulty in attempting to fit short lengths of hair against the roller once the hair is begun to be rolled thereon, therefore ensuring even tension to prevent frizziness. Moreover, because the hair is captured in the envelope, ends of the hair do not fall away from the roller during the wrapping of the curls, preventing loose ends in the resultant hairdo.

The size of the curls desired is regulated by the larger crosssectional dimension of the rod 14. The rod may be of round cross section, but it is preferred that the rod be of noncircular cross section, and preferably of rectangular cross section. Because the rod is of noncircular cross section, the wrapping is more easily effected and all loose ends are more easily picked up. The hair is then wrapped about the rod by wrapping the envelope about the rod in the manner illustrated 'FIG. 4, the wrapped envelope is secured in place by means of an elastic band or loop 28, secured at one end to the flared portion 26 and stretched over the envelope to be secured to the other end in a notch in the flared portion 27. As may be seen in FIG. 5, when the envelope is in the wrapped condition, the natural resilience of the plastic causes the hair to follow a generally round contour despite the fact that the cross section of the rod is not round. This'ensures a smooth curl with no kinks. The resilience of the plastic envelope also allows the hair to form its own curl without taking up a great deal of bulk. thus being more comfortable to the wearer.

In order to allow circulation of air and/or solutions in the wrapped curl, the envelope may be perforated by providing a plurality of perforations 29 therein. The size and shape of the perforations are dependent upon the particular drying effect desired. For example, in cold permanent waving, drying is not necessarily critical, and consequently no perforations or very small perforations may be preferable. In the case of setting, however, drying is desirable and relatively large perforations may be provided for this purpose. To further enhance drying, strips of absorbent fabric may be laminated to'the plastic, such strips also serving to reduce drippage in the event of solutio saturated hair.

It may be noted at this point that where waving or neutralizbe impregnated in the material of the envelope, and may be activated merely by adding water in this manner.

Although the materials described herein are mentioned as preferably being plastic, it may be pointed out that the material may be of a disposable type, such as paper. In this case the envelope may be a relatively flexible paper with perhaps some resilience to it, whereas the rod may be comprised of a relatively stiffer cardboard material. Thus, the device has application in the home permanent field where the device may be utilized only once by a purchaser and then discarded. On the other hand, when used in the professional field the device may be color-coded and various sizes provided for the use of professional beauty operators. When constructed out of plastic material, the device may be reused and no inconvenience results from the necessity to' separate and discard end papers as is typically the case with presently known methods. The device is easily cleaned by a relatively. simple cross section, the roller itself may be made in an appropriate shape. One form of a device constructed in this manner is illustrated in FIG. 6.The parts of the device of FIG. 6 which correspond to those of the previous figures have been given the same reference numbers, preceded by a l. The separable portions 117 and 118 of the rod 114 are of'curved cross section. The curves bend in opposite directions so that, when the separable portions are brought together, the rod forms a cylinder of generally circular cross section. When the envelope 111 of flexible material is wrapped upon the separable elongated rod L14, it follows the outer cylindrical contour of the rod to produce the desired shape in the curl.

It may therefore be seen that the invention provides an improved device for curling hair, and a method for utilizing such device, which involves a simple one-step process and which eliminates the use of end papers. The device may be handled and held much like an end paper, but when closed the rod is in place ready to roll up with no additional steps required. No special training is required to utilize the device other than following simple directions. If used properly, the device will eliminate fish hooks, uneven t ension, and frizzy ends, The device is easy to clean and sterilize and 18 of sufficrently simple construction as to be low in cost and easy to use. The device is thus practical for nonprofessional as well as professional use.

Various modifications of the invention in addition to those shown and described herein will becomev apparent to those washing operation and is ready then for use on the next customer. Short lengths of hair at the nape of the neck are relatively easy to handle with the rod placed between the thumb and index finger of an operator. The required motion is almost a simple snap of the finger to produce the desired curl.

No special training or dexterity is required to use the device,

and the device and method of the invention are capable of cutting 15 to 20 minutes off the time heretofore required to curl a head of hair.

Under some circumstances it may be preferable from a manufacturing or cost standpoint that the envelope be com prised of a material which does not have a high degree of resilience. In order to ensure that the curl will have a circular skilled in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Such modifications are intended to fall within the scope ofthe appendant claims.

I claim:

1. A device for curling hair, comprising, an envelope of flexible material including at least two partially separable sheet portions adapted to be positioned in a generally superimposed relationship with hair sandwiched therebetween, and an elongated rod relatively stiffer than said flexible material, said rod being separable into two portions along its length, each position being secured to corresponding edges of said sheet por- .tion, respcctively, said rod, when unseparated, being of a cross-sectional size which permits said envelope to be wrapped about said rod at least once.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said sheet portions are joined along one edge and wherein said separable portions of said rod are hinged adjacent said edge, whereby said envelope and said rod may be folded open to receive hair and then folded closed prior to wrapping.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said rod is of noncircular cross section, and wherein said flexible material of said envelope has sufficient resilience to produce a generally circular curl when wrapped on said rod.

4. A device according to claim 1 including means for securing said rod in unseparated condition when said envelope is wrapped about said rod, 

